The Trump movement's most revealing and characteristic moments – not its most significant, nor most harsh, nor most dangerous, nor most foolish, but possibly its most revealing – came earlier this autumn. Over the span of several weeks, the nation's leader began displaying the public his designs for a lavish reception room twice the size compared to the White House and then began solo dismantling the eastern section to build it.
He has committed acts countless times more severe – the existing assessment of deaths resulting from his reductions to USAID amounts to 600,000 and rising, and recently a study predicted his fossil fuel policies would kill another 1.3 million. Yet nothing as characteristic. No previous president would have dared – truly, no previous leader would have imagined – independently wrecking large sections of the White House to build a royal-themed celebration hall, with the enthusiastic participation of multiple America's wealthiest, almost all of whom have business with the government.
We moved from 'the gentle will obtain the planet' into 'the meek shall die from cholera'
As confusing as it is to observe the leader attempt to overturn the established notion about democracy and exchange it with its polar opposite, there is one large group among Americans who should not find it totally unfamiliar. That encompasses people such as ourselves – among senior generations a near majority – who were educated within mainstream Protestant traditions.
We have witnessed throughout the years as politically conservative religious groups transformed the Christ we grew up with into the complete reverse of our perception of his character. At its most basic, they transformed an image of affection into an icon of hostility who endorses precisely the cruelties that he condemned in scripture; this change developed more slowly, through multiple decades as opposed to months, yet it remains disconcerting through similar means, a confusing personal impact for numerous individuals.
A Toxic Christianity Establishes Itself
Therefore allow me to outline the Savior from my upbringing, as conceptually the Savior is the core of any Christian faith, and since the fastest-growing cadre of Americans could have minimal awareness of him because they identify as atheists or doubters or nones. I raise no objection with these various perspectives, nor with different religions; however I believe that contain precious wisdom of substantial value in biblical accounts.
It is decidedly not the story of a mighty king appearing; instead, a baby is born to displaced parents in an automotive shelter, who are forced to hastily depart to another nation to avoid covert authorities. The infant develops in simple surroundings, a laboring woodworker; his teaching focuses on affection for other people, especially for the disadvantaged – not simply tender feelings, but practical compassion, demonstrated through nourishing and sheltering. Christ's response to hostility is to present the other cheek – not as a gesture of passive acceptance, but as a means to teach the attacker; his crime policy indicates that whenever a person pilfers your coat you should give him your sweater as well.
The apparent and straightforward truth that the Savior of the gospels calls for a kind of extreme compassion centered on the poor is what has always made the Christian faith somewhat of a controversial faith: engaging for the masses, but due to its natural unconventionality demanding to be controlled. In the 1950s it was restrained by dilution – Protestantism was so dominant that it practically blessed current circumstances.
A Conflict for the Best Within Us
So I have been encouraged to witness the steadfast resistance to Trump arise in this past year. It has served as great solace to help build the movement that has taken to the streets in rally after rally, and likely has encouraged voters to participate in numbers in the off-year elections. We must have to maintain it, and through comparable resolve, with American flags at every demonstration and requests to the best parts of American history.
We will be questioned ... regarding how you welcomed the stranger? Did you accept these individuals and embrace them or reject?
America is best defended, to put it differently, through connection to the finest in US heritage, exactly as the Christian faith is best defended by reference to what makes it special and beautiful, specifically the model of the Savior. In all circumstances does it mean pretending the most negative about the nation and religious tradition did not happen; it signifies both modesty and faith, a mixture that serious American Christians should embrace.
